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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635258">Fight Like A Girl</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MollyPollyKinz/pseuds/MollyPollyKinz'>MollyPollyKinz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm tagging MuffinLance because this seems like something she would come up with, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Not Abandoned, Not Trans Zuko, On Hiatus, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Hatred, Sokka sees a rivalry that isn't there, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko don't care about your gender roles, Zuko gets adopted by the kyoshi warriors, asexual zuko, kyoshi warrior zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,486</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MollyPollyKinz/pseuds/MollyPollyKinz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko gets adopted by the Kyoshi Warriors. Sokka never thought he'd have rival like this before.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Suki &amp; Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1342</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Warriors of Kyoshi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts">MuffinLance</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A dress. Suki made him wear a <em>dress</em>. Sure, Sokka had agreed to follow all the Kyoshi Warrior’s traditions, but this was not what he had in mind when he asked for Suki to train him.</p><p>On the bright side, the makeup wasn’t much different from the water tribe war paint, and there was something about it that made him feel <em>empowered.</em></p><p>Still, there were certain codes a man had to stand by in his life, and this was one of them. And, really, a dress?</p><p>“Do I really have to wear this?” Sokka asked, tugging at the heavy green cloth, “It feels a little… girly.”</p><p>Sokka flushed at the phrasing, but that was the only word he could think of describing his current outfit.</p><p>Suki put her hands on her hips. “It’s a warrior’s uniform, you should be proud.” She gestured to Sokka’s new outfit. “The silk thread symbolizes the warrior blood that runs through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior’s heart.”</p><p>Well, when she put it that way, it was actually pretty cool. Not just cool, it was inspiring.</p><p>Sokka squared his shoulders. “Bravery and honor.”</p><p>“Hey Sokka!” Sokka winced in embarrassment when Aang popped in, grinning widely. “Nice dress!”</p><p>As Aang made a dash to who-knows-where, Sokka sagged, embarrassment pressing down on him once again.</p><p>Suki laughed. “You’re still taking it better than Zuko did.” She turned to one warrior in the back; they had a tiny black ponytail. “Zuko, tell Sokka what you did when you first wore the dress.”</p><p>Zuko? That was a strange name for a girl. It was a strange name for the Earth Kingdom.</p><p>The warrior in the back crossed her arms and scowled. “All I did was call it impractical,” she grumbled with a very masculine sounding voice.</p><p>Sokka doubted this warrior was actually a girl.</p><p>“Uh huh,” Suki said, rolling her eyes, “You also said that it was uncomfortable and threatened to set it on fire.”</p><p>Fire?</p><p>The other girls laughed. Although everyone was laughing at him, Zuko cracked a smile.</p><p>“It’s not like I ever called it <em>girly,” </em>Zuko said, gesturing toward Sokka. Sokka squawked in indignation.</p><p>“It thought the Kyoshi Warriors was made up of all girls?” Sokka asked Suki.</p><p>“Mostly, yes,” Suki replied, “Zuko’s our only exception. But only because he followed <em>all </em>of our traditions.”</p><p>Sokka glared at Zuko. Zuko smirked back.</p><p>You know what? If <em>Zuko </em>could follow all of those traditions, then Sokka was going to follow them better.</p><p>“You know what? I think I really like this dress,” Sokka said, “I would <em>never </em>set bravery and honor on fire.”</p><p>“But you <em>would</em> call it girly,” Zuko rebutted, “So, basically, you’re saying that men don’t have bravery and honor.”</p><p>Sokka sputtered. “I <em>did not—”</em></p><p>“Boys,” Suki said, smiling, “I thought we were training?”</p><p>Sokka felt his face warm. “Oh yeah, right.”</p><p>Zuko only nodded. Sokka hoped Suki would teach him some good moves. He would love nothing more than to punch that smug look off of Zuko’s face.</p><p> </p><p>They should’ve known Zhao was going to find them. Katara had been moaning about staying in one place for too long, but Sokka was too busy trying to track down Suki to really listen.</p><p>He regretted it now.</p><p>Smoke filled the sky. Waves of heat hit Sokka uncomfortably, and he wondered if his makeup was going to come off. He shouldn’t have worried; it was made up of sturdier stuff than that.</p><p>Zuko—Sokka would recognize that tiny, black ponytail anywhere—was doing an incredible job of putting out fires and deflecting fireballs. If he didn’t know better, Sokka would say that Zuko was a firebender. But that was ridiculous, even for Sokka’s standards.</p><p>“There’s no time for goodbye,” Suki said. She stared at Zuko, who was still doing really well, moving his fans so quickly that Sokka could hardly see them move.</p><p>It couldn’t end like this. Sokka refused.</p><p>“What about ‘I’m sorry?’” he asked.</p><p>Suki looked surprised, but she didn’t look away from Zuko. “For what?”</p><p>Sokka pushed away any jealousy. That’s not what this was about right now. “I treated you like a girl when I should’ve treated you like a warrior.”</p><p>Suki looked away from Zuko, smiling. Sokka felt his chest swell. “I am a warrior.” And suddenly, she leaned over and pecked Sokka on the cheek. Sokka felt like a warm fire in the middle of a snowstorm. “But I’m a girl too.”</p><p>Suki kissed him. Suki kissed <em>him. </em>Ha! Take that Zuko!</p><p>Suki stood up and ran into the street. “Zuko!” she called out, “Go with Sokka and the others!”</p><p>Zuko and Sokka balked equally. Except Zuko kept fighting, and Sokka stood exactly where he was.</p><p>“What?!” Zuko asked, deflecting a fireball with extra force, “Why?”</p><p>“What?!” Sokka exclaimed with horror. Just when he thought he was one-upping this guy, he was going to join their group?</p><p>“You know better than anyone why!” Suki exclaimed, “Just go!”</p><p>Zuko let out a very unladylike growl as he put out one last flame with his fan. He ran toward Sokka. “Come on, let’s go!”</p><p>“Now, wait a minute,” Sokka said, “I—”</p><p>Sokka wasn’t allowed to finish. Zuko grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward Appa.</p><p>“Good luck!” Suki called out. Sokka wasn’t exactly sure which one of them she was talking to.</p><p>They hopped onto Appa, and Aang took to flight. Katara said something comforting to Aang about leaving Kyoshi Island behind. Both Katara and Aang seemed to fail to notice the new passenger.</p><p>Zuko was silent, though, so Sokka wasn’t sure he blamed them.</p><p>And Aang jumped off Appa. <em>Aang jumped off Appa!</em></p><p>“What are you doing?!” Zuko and Katara both screamed at the same time.</p><p>Katara turned toward Zuko. “Who are you?!”</p><p>Zuko gave her a small bow from his sitting position. “I’m Zuko.”</p><p>Katara stared.</p><p>Sokka groaned. Once again, it looked like it fell to him to be the leader. “Katara, this is Zuko,” Sokka said, pointing to the Kyoshi Warrior, “Zuko, this is Katara.”</p><p>“A pleasure to meet you,” Katara said diplomatically. She turned to Sokka and raised a quizzical eyebrow. “But what’s he… she doing here?”</p><p>“He,” Zuko supplied, “Just because I wear a dress and wield fans does not mean I’m a girl.”</p><p>Katara blushed. “Right. Sorry.”</p><p>It turned out Aang used the Unagi to douse the fires on Kyoshi island. Sokka almost forgot how inventive Aang could be. He was downright impressed.</p><p>Aang jumped back onto Appa.</p><p>“I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous,” Aang said, smiling widely at Katara. He froze when he saw Zuko. “What are you doing here?”</p><p>Zuko bowed his head. “My name is Zuko. Suki would like me to teach you firebending.”</p><p>What.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a one-shot unless I get enough kudos or bookmarks. Then, I might continue it. Writing this was really fun, so I might continue it regardless. (Update: Congratulations you guys, this will be continued! Thank you for the support so far.)</p><p>Anyway, thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. So it Begins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The woman in front of him had white and red makeup painted all over her face. Her auburn hair was tied up into a bun, and she was wearing a green and gold warrior’s uniform.</p><p>A Kyoshi warrior, Zuko belatedly realized. How could he not recognize it sooner? He had studied the cultures of Kyoshi hoping to make a good impression. So much for that plan.</p><p>Humiliation washed over Zuko, and he reacted in the only way that he knew how.</p><p>“Let go of me!”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you everyone for your wonderful support! I'm so grateful, and here's another chapter. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything burned.</p><p>The burning was in Zuko’s lungs as he struggled to breathe, as he struggled to keep swimming, as he struggled to get to the island that was so close and yet so, <em>so</em> far. The burning came into Zuko’s eyes from the ocean’s merciless assault, from the tears that threatened to constrict his breathing more than they already had.</p><p>Around his left eye, his skin <em>burned. </em>Every time the salt water touched his blistering skin, a fresh wave of agony would send a jolt down Zuko’s spine; a sob that sounded more like a scream would erupt from his throat. And a renewed desperation for it all to <em>end </em>threatened to drown Zuko immediately<em>.</em></p><p>He was so close to shore. So close to the one place he was most desperate to reach.</p><p>There was nowhere else he could go. The Fire Nation hated him, hated his shame, hated his cowardice. Even now, self-revulsion washed over Zuko. <em>He </em>hated his cowardice, his fear, his insistence to hide and run away like a <em>coward.</em></p><p>He couldn’t go to the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes.  In the entire month he had been banished, Zuko hadn’t once dared to step foot on those territories. They would see him and kill him like the savages they were. They already killed Lu Ten, why would Zuko be any different?</p><p>Kyoshi was neutral. Zuko could go to Kyoshi. Nobody would try to kill him there. Or, at least, he <em>hoped </em>nobody would try to kill him there. At the very least, they weren’t actively fighting in a war against his nation, even if they were primitive.</p><p>Was it even <em>his </em>nation anymore?</p><p>
  <em>Keep swimming, ignore the pain, keep swimming…</em>
</p><p>Oh well, it didn’t seem to matter anyway. As Zuko pushed against the burning water, he felt like the island wasn’t growing any nearer. Was it his imagination, or was it getting farther away?</p><p>It would be so much easier to just die here. To just sink and drown and be done with it. Everything hurt so much already, maybe Zuko <em>was </em>dying. Maybe Zuko was pushing against the inevitable.</p><p>He was lucky to be born. He was lucky to have the thirteen years that he got. It almost seemed fitting that he would die right after his greatest failure. And it would be so <em>easy </em>to just give up, and—</p><p>
  <em>Never give up without a fight.</em>
</p><p>The dagger was probably blown up with the rest of Zuko’s ship, <em>with the rest of his crew. </em>Still, the memory of his uncle’s gift propelled him forward, made him kick harder even as he screamed against the agony all over...</p><p>
  <em>Keep swimming, don’t give up, ignore the pain.</em>
</p><p>The closer Zuko got to the island, the more the corners of his vision faded to black. He stubbornly pushed to stay conscious. He couldn’t give up. He was so close. He could practically touch the shores now. He blinked away the darkness, and—</p><p>Something warm was draped over Zuko. Zuko touched the soft material, wondering where it came from. Everything hurt so much less now. Zuko wondered if this moment would last forever.</p><p>Wasn’t he supposed to be swimming?</p><p>He suddenly realized his eyes were closed, and Zuko opened them quickly, blinking away the bright sunlight that filtered through open windows. His lungs remembered they were supposed to be close to drowning, and his next breaths were strangled gasps.</p><p>A couple of hands grabbed Zuko by the shoulders. This did <em>not </em>steady his breathing, and now Zuko was struggling against the stranger, desperate to be free, desperate to figure out what was going on—</p><p>“You’re safe now. You’re on Kyoshi Island. I swear to you on my honor, nobody is going to hurt you.”</p><p>The voice was soft. Its owner spoke in a quality similar to his mother’s comforting words, back when she was still around. The comparison was not what calmed Zuko, however. Instead, he latched onto the words ‘Kyoshi’ and ‘honor.’</p><p>Zuko made it. He made it to Kyoshi Island. The woman comforting him seemed to think he was safe, swearing to him on her <em>honor </em>that nobody would hurt him<em>. </em>That wasn’t a vow Zuko took lightly.</p><p>This time, Zuko knew it was a vow doomed to be broken. Zuko was never safe. Zuko wasn’t safe in the palace, he wasn’t safe in his nation, he wasn’t even safe on his own <em>Agni-danged</em> boat.</p><p>As Zuko’s breathing slowed, his awareness spread. His burn had a bandage and some sticky substance—maybe cream—lathered on top of it. He could feel bandages spread across most of his body. Zuko must’ve gotten more hurt from the explosion on his ship than he realized.</p><p>The woman in front of him had white and red makeup painted all over her face. Her auburn hair was tied up into a bun, and she was wearing a green and gold warrior’s uniform.</p><p><em>A Kyoshi warrior, </em>Zuko belatedly realized. How could he not recognize it sooner? He had studied the cultures of Kyoshi hoping to make a good impression. So much for that plan.</p><p>Humiliation washed over Zuko, and he reacted in the only way that he knew how.</p><p>“Let go of me!”</p><p>The warrior let go of Zuko immediately, and Zuko flinched. He just yelled at a <em>Kyoshi Warrior. </em>He just yelled at one of the few people who could possibly be on his side.</p><p>Not that she would be once she knew who Zuko was. If civilized society cast him out, Zuko had no hope among the uncivilized communities.</p><p>If he could keep his identity a secret, then maybe… just maybe… they would accept a firebender into their home. He would have to live a life of a savage, but he deserved worse.</p><p>Instead of reacting sternly, angrily, or negatively at all to Zuko’s shout, the woman smiled gently.</p><p>“You should lie back down,” she said, “You’re still sick.”</p><p>Zuko did as she said, clinging to the little hope he had left. He still felt like a coward as he did it, fearing for his life like this. Any self-respecting prince would already have threatened to burn the entire village to the ground.</p><p>Was he even a prince anymore? Oh well, Zuko doubted he could even light a candle, much less set an entire village on fire.</p><p>His inner fire still warmed his insides, and Zuko was grateful that it was still there. Agni hadn’t taken away this blessing, not yet at least.</p><p>A new girl stepped into the room. She was probably around Zuko’s age, definitely no younger than Azula, and was wearing a Kyoshi uniform.</p><p>Great. There were two of them now.</p><p>“Mom, the other girls were wondering—oh, he’s awake!” The girl walked closer to Zuko, who was still lying on a hard mat. “My name is Suki. What’s yours?”</p><p>It didn’t even occur to Zuko to lie. “Zuko.”</p><p>“Fire Nation,” Suki’s mother said, “Like your outfit.” Her face grew suddenly stern. “Kyoshi is a neutral territory. Do you wish to bring war upon our shores?”</p><p>Zuko shook his head quickly. “No!” He winced. “No. I promise.”</p><p>Suki’s mother’s face softened. “I thought so, but I had to check.”</p><p>Zuko understood. Even as he nodded, exhaustion crashed over him. He tried to keep his eyes open, but all too quickly, the heaviness overpowered him.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Sokka said, “I don’t think I heard you right. Repeat yourself, but more slowly this time.”</p><p>Zuko scowled—though Zuko looked like he was always scowling with that weirdly shaped left eye of his—and crossed his arms.</p><p>“Suki wants me to teach the Avatar firebending,” Zuko repeated, “Do you want me to spell it out for you too?”</p><p>Aang’s face lit up like it was his birthday. “You’re a firebender!”</p><p>Sokka didn’t know what his face looked like, but he had a feeling it was the exact <em>opposite </em>of Aang’s. “You’re a <em>firebender?!”</em></p><p>Zuko’s scowl might’ve deepened, but Sokka was having a hard time telling at this point. “Yes, I’m a firebender.”</p><p>Aang did a mini air-jump across the saddle and grabbed onto Zuko’s arm. “See? It’s a good firebender! I knew that the Fire Nation couldn’t be all bad.”</p><p>Sokka was still trying to work out this puzzle. Zuko was a Kyoshi Warrior. A warrior that protected Kyoshi Island. Kyoshi Island was in the Earth Kingdom. So, Zuko was part of the Earth Kingdom. Zuko was also apparently a firebender.</p><p>Earth Kingdom citizens were not firebenders.</p><p>Maybe this was some joke. Sokka pointed at Zuko accusingly. “Prove it,” Sokka said.</p><p>Zuko held up a gloved hand and took a deep breath. A baby flame flickered in his palm.</p><p>Aang stared at the flame. His eyes were so wide that Sokka was surprised they weren’t eating up his entire face.</p><p>“It’s so cute! Are you going to teach me stuff like that? Or are you going to teach me that more intense stuff, like kicks and punches and stuff like that?”</p><p>“Aang,” Katara said. She was staring at Zuko with horror, but it wasn’t the same horror that she might wear if Zuko were Zhao or something like that. More like the horror she would have if she found an entire town burned to ash. “Give Zuko some space.”</p><p>Okay, so this wasn’t an elaborate prank. Sokka was pretty sure that the fire Zuko just extinguished was very real. The only alternative Sokka could think of was…</p><p>Oh. <em>Oh. </em>No wonder Katara was staring at Zuko like that.</p><p>Zuko noticed Katara’s staring. “Don’t stare at me like that,” he said, “It’s not like I’m a war child. I defected from the Fire Nation.”</p><p>There went that theory. And since when did people defect from their ‘oh so gloriously evil nation?’</p><p>“Why?” Katara asked. She drew back suddenly. “You don’t have to answer that if it’s too personal. Sorry.”</p><p>Zuko only sighed and shrugged. “They were going to sacrifice some soldiers, so I stood up for them and got banished. Happy?”</p><p>“Woah, hold up,” Sokka said, holding his hands up, “I thought you just said you defected. Now you’re saying you were banished? Pick one.”</p><p>Zuko was <em>definitely </em>glaring at Sokka now. “Both.”</p><p>You know what, fine. That was fine. Zuko could keep his stupid secrets to himself. Sokka didn’t need to know anything about this guy.</p><p>“Well…” Aang said slowly, obviously trying to ease the tension, “On the bright side, we now have someone to teach me firebending. This is great!”</p><p>It’s true that they had all assumed that finding a firebending teacher was going to be their biggest problem. Sokka supposed it <em>was </em>pretty convenient that one just dropped into their laps. Maybe even <em>too </em>convenient.</p><p>Sokka peered at Zuko suspiciously, taking in his infuriatingly perfect Kyoshi uniform. “I’m not so sure I trust you,” he said slowly.</p><p>“Oh?” Zuko said, “Well, I thought that you trusted Suki’s judgement, but I guess I just read things—”</p><p>Indignation rose up in Sokka. How dare Zuko insult his faith in Suki! He had loads of faith in Suki!</p><p>“Hey! I’ll have you know that I trust Suki’s judgement a lot more than <em>you </em>do!”</p><p>Zuko looked thoroughly skeptical of this. “Oh yes, because you’ve definitely grown up beside her for years.”</p><p>Sokka opened his mouth to retort, but Katara gave him a long-suffering look. “Sokka…”</p><p>Ugh. Sokka shut his mouth, crossed his arms, and slumped against the edge of Appa’s saddle. Stupid Zuko. Stupid, perfect, firebending Zuko. Now there would be three hand-waving benders in the group.</p><p>Great. Just <em>great.</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We thus begin some lovely backstory for Zuko. If you're slightly confused about what's going on, don't worry, your questions will probably be answered in future chapters. </p><p>I'm taking many creative liberties with Suki's backstory because she doesn't really have one. </p><p>Also, I think Katara is mostly willing to give Zuko a chance, and the reason she was so mad in the show was because Zuko basically spat on the chance she gave him at the end of season two. There isn't any of that sort of history, not to mention that Suki endorsed him, so Katara's actually pretty okay with the situation. </p><p>Anyway, thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. King of Omashu Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka didn't like that Zuko never revealed his face. Katara and Aang had started taking his suspicions with a grain of salt, especially after Sokka proposed that he could be the dead Fire Nation Prince in disguise. </p><p>Sokka still thought that theory was very valid. Everyone else thought it was ridiculous. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A lot of ya'll seemed really worried about this since last chapter, so I'll put your fears to rest. Iroh is alive. </p><p>Anyway, I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It turned out that getting salt-water on a burn was a great way to get an infection. It also turned out that spending hours in cold water was a good way to get hypothermia. Thus, Zuko found himself sick in bed for a good part of a month. </p><p>When Zuko finally didn’t feel like his inner fire was trying to burn him alive, Zuko didn’t feel very inclined to get out of bed. </p><p>He had a plan. He was supposed to get off of his pathetic ship, plead to the village elders to allow him and his crew for refuge, and then live out the rest of his life in shame. Zuko already screwed up the first two parts.</p><p>His crew was dead. Zuko’s crew of misfits were gone. All because Zuko hadn’t been cautious enough to suspect that there might be a bomb planted on his ship. </p><p>Zuko hadn’t even arrived on his ship. Instead, he washed up on shore half dead, and the natives had taken pity on him. </p><p>The burn around his left eye was mostly healed, but the scar tissue felt unnatural on Zuko’s face. It was an eternal mark of his shame, there for everyone to see. </p><p>So, Zuko refused to leave his futon. He refused to eat. He refused to speak.  Zuko allowed himself to be miserable and hated himself all the more for it. </p><p>On the first day of this arrangement, Suki’s mother sat on the ground next to his futon. Zuko resisted the temptation to roll over and turn his back on her. From experience, turning his back on elders had never ended well, even if this woman was a primitive. </p><p>“Our intelligence has heard some tragic news from the fire nation,” she said, “Your prince has died in a pirate attack.”</p><p>Zuko clenched his fist around the soft blanket on top of him. Of course, everyone would think he was dead. Now, his name would be forever lost in history or worse, a black spot. It was no less than he deserved for being such a selfish coward. </p><p>Zuko wanted to ask about the 41st Division, but he was too afraid to. He didn’t say anything at all. </p><p>“My name is Sayua,” she continued. She clearly didn’t care that Zuko would not say anything to her. It was probably because she knew nothing about proper manners. “Why won’t you eat anything?”</p><p>Zuko scowled but stayed silent. </p><p>“It’s not healthy.” Sayua held up a bowl of noodles and placed it on the floor with a loud thump. “I’m not leaving this room until you eat.”</p><p>And suddenly, it was a battle of the wills. The idea of being stuck in the room with an adult was bad enough. The idea of being stuck with a <em>female</em> would’ve also been bad enough. Being stuck with both for as long as he refused to eat was almost unthinkable. </p><p>But the more cowardly part of Zuko wanted to just fall asleep and die. Why should <em>he</em> be the sole survivor of the explosion? Why should <em>he</em> get to live when he was a spineless coward? </p><p>True to her word. Sayua stayed exactly where she was seated. Seconds passed. Seconds turned to minutes. The noodles had stopped steaming long before minutes turned to hours. </p><p>As the sun began setting, Zuko finally listened to the incessant growling of his stomach and surrendered to the patient woman. </p><p>“Fine,” he said. His voice cracked from lack of use. </p><p>Zuko slowly sat up and put the bowl of noodles into his lap. He grabbed the chopsticks lying across the bowl and slowly ate. The noodles were cold, and Zuko suppressed a grimace. Surely, she wouldn’t notice if he just heated the noodles up slightly? </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Zuko recalled what his uncle used to show him about heating tea. </p><p><em>“Feel the fire, nephew,”</em> he had always said, <em>“Feel the energy in your chi spread to your palms. Allow this energy to become heat.”</em></p><p>Zuko ended up accidently breaking the delicate china from over-heating it. It was a typical performance from Zuko: a careless, sloppy failure. But when Zuko held out his hand to be punished, Uncle Iroh just held it gently. </p><p><em>“That’s alright, Prince Zuko,”</em> he said, <em>“Let’s try it again.”</em></p><p>Zuko would never see Uncle Iroh again. He was safely at the palace, enjoying tea and whatever old men enjoyed in their free time. Probably overly long games of Pai Sho or something like that. </p><p>Zuko never thought he would miss being roped into a game of Pai Sho. </p><p>“Impressive. So you’re a firebender?” Sayua said, startling Zuko out of his thoughts. He winced. His scar ached. </p><p>“Sorry,” he muttered. He wasn’t even sure what he was apologizing for. </p><p>“Did I say I was upset?” Sauya raised an eyebrow. “That was resourceful of you. Like I said, I’m impressed.”</p><p>Zuko’s hand shook as he grabbed some noodles with his chopstick and stuck them into his mouth. Now that the heat had returned, they were far more bearable, but still extremely bland. Zuko wondered if there were any spices on Kyoshi Island. </p><p>His stomach started feeling tight after about three bites. He placed down the bowl and crossed his arms. </p><p>“I ate. Can you leave now?” he said. His voice was half- pleading, half challenging. </p><p>Sayua took the still mostly full bowl and left the room. Zuko laid back down.  Like every night, nightmares plagued him. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>As they traveled, Sokka noted some interesting things about Zuko. </p><p>First, Aang was probably suffering from severe letdown with firebending training. They had gotten little opportunity to get started so far, but Zuko was putting Aang through breathing exercises first and foremost. </p><p>“I already know how to breathe!” Aang had complained. </p><p>“You need to learn control,” Zuko said, “Firebending is all about the breath. So, unless you want to accidently burn yourself or someone else, practice your breathing.”</p><p>Aang practiced his breathing with an appropriate amount of seriousness after that. </p><p>Second, Sokka had never <em>ever</em>, not even <em>once</em>, seen Zuko’s face. He wore his makeup day and night. When Sokka asked if it was a good idea to wear so much makeup at night, Zuko just shrugged. </p><p>The next time they were at a market, however, Sokka saw Zuko buy a blue spirit-looking mask. Every night, he would wash his makeup off where no one could ever see him, and put on the mask when he went to sleep.  </p><p>Sokka, however, had enough of the secrets pretty quickly. It was bad enough that this guy was a firebender, but that he wouldn’t even show his face just crossed a line. He tried talking to this about Aang and Katara, but…</p><p>“Zuko may feel the need to hide his face,” Katara said, “But there’s nothing wrong with him.”</p><p>“Yeah!” Aang piped up. “Besides, he says that after I master firebending, he might show me how to use fans <em>with</em> firebending. Fans are great air bending weapons.” Aang leapt to his feet and pantomimed, slashing the air with two fans. “I’ll be the fire and air Fan-Avatar.”</p><p>Sokka frowned. “Didn’t Kyoshi use all the elements?”</p><p>“Oh, yeah!” Aang sat back down. “You’re a genius, Sokka! I’ll just be a Fan-Avatar.”</p><p>“That sounds like something a group of fangirls would name themselves,” Sokka muttered, “But it would sound better as Fanvatar.”</p><p>Aang made a humming noise as he thought about it. “Maybe… “</p><p>Sokka suddenly remembered why they were having this conversation, and he hurried to get them back on track. “Anyway, I’m just saying: how can we trust a guy that refuses to show his face?”</p><p>Katara frowned as she continued stirring the soup over the crackling fire. “Suki trusts him,” she said. Suddenly, she smiled knowingly at Sokka. “Is that part of the problem?”</p><p>Sokka sputtered. “What—no! Why would that be part of the problem?”</p><p> Aang frowned before his face suddenly lit up like he had solved a riddle. “You think Zuko is going to go after Suki!” He pointed accusingly at Sokka. “You’re jealous.”</p><p>Sokka crossed his arms. “I’m not jealous,” he said, “That is neither manly nor leaderly.”</p><p>Katara raised her eyebrows. “Leaderly?” she snorted. </p><p>At that moment, Zuko walked into the camp, and they promptly dropped the subject. </p><p>The suspicion lingered, however, and Sokka need to know what was behind that makeup only grew. Katara and Aang had started taking his suspicions with a grain of salt, especially after Sokka proposed that he could be the dead Fire Nation Prince in disguise. </p><p>Sokka still thought that theory was very valid. Everyone else thought it was ridiculous.  </p><p>Needless to say, Sokka’s suspicions had not been quelled by the time they reached another one of Aang’s pit stops: Omashu. </p><p>Sokka was doubting that they were ever going to reach the North Pole. At the rate they were going, the Fire Lord was more likely going to die of old age than actually be defeated by the easily distracted twelve-year-old they were banking on their hopes on. </p><p>When they reached the front entrance, Aang concocted a ridiculously hard to remember last name. By some miracle, Katara actually remembered that last name. The guard looked at Zuko assumed that Zuko was a girl and that they were all from Kyoshi. Zuko didn’t even bother to correct him, so <em>Sokka</em> was the one carrying his “grandfather’s” pack. </p><p>“Why didn’t you tell him you weren’t a girl?” Sokka hissed at Zuko. </p><p>“It’s not worth it,” Zuko said, “Not only would it be a waste of time, but it would draw unwanted attention.”</p><p>Like that outfit didn’t <em>already</em> draw unwanted attention. It kind of stood out, if you understood what Sokka meant. </p><p>Anyway, Aang wanted to ride in one of the mail carrier things. Personally, Sokka thought this was both a terrible and ingenious idea. Aang and Katara seemed excited enough, so Sokka crawled in with them. <em>Someone</em> had to keep an eye on those two. </p><p><em>Zuko</em> on the other hand…</p><p>“You must be crazy to want to ride down those,” he said, “What about the potential property damage?”</p><p>Aang waved away those concerns with his hand. “Bumi and I did this loads of times back in the day,” Aang said, “Nothing ever happened.”</p><p>Sokka smirked. “You know what I think? I think you’re just scared.”</p><p>“I think I’m the only one with common sense,” Zuko said. </p><p>Katara looked down at the menacing slope. “You know, this sounded fun at first, but maybe Zuko’s—”  </p><p>Sokka’s stomach dropped as Aang pushed the mail carrier down the slope. Man, this thing could fly faster than Appa. </p><p>Then, they caused a ton of property damage, and the authorities arrested them. Maybe Zuko had a point after all. </p><p>Not that Sokka would ever admit it. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for any inaccuracies! Please be nice with constructive criticism though because I have anxiety. </p><p>When I was younger, I had a really short haircut, so everyone thought I was a boy. I rarely bothered correcting them. I translated some of that experience to Zuko's reasoning near the end of the chapter. Not to mention that people are more likely to frown upon men wearing "women's" clothing as opposed to a girl having a short haircut... Hopefully my judgement wasn't wrong. </p><p>This chapter was going to be longer, but I wanted to get it out yesterday, so... we'll finish the Omashu storyline next chapter. </p><p>Anyway, thank you for reading and for all of your wonderful comments so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. King of Omashu Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>King Bumi is the weirdest king Zuko had ever met.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Present Day:</em>
</p><p>Zuko lost track of Sokka, Katara, and Aang not long after they flew down the mailing chute. With a sigh, he walked down the path in their general direction. At worst, he could bail them out of jail.</p><p>Still, the bad feeling he got from all of this was not encouraged when he heard the familiar yell of a cabbage merchant. What sort of idiot would destroy a cabbage cart? And why did he have a feeling that they were <em>his </em>idiots?</p><p>Zuko arrived at the scene just in time to see Aang, Sokka, and Katara get <em>arrested </em>by the city guards. He had been joking to himself about bailing them out of jail. Was he seriously going to spend all of their money getting these kids out of jail?</p><p>One guard noticed Zuko staring in shocked horror.</p><p>“Have no fear, ma’am,” he said, holding his hand up placatingly, “We’ll have these hooligans behind bars.”</p><p>Zuko groaned. “How much will it cost to get them out of prison?” he asked, reaching for the money pouch in his pocket.</p><p>The guard gave Zuko a look of confusion. “Do you know them?”</p><p>“Unfortunately,” Zuko deadpanned.</p><p>“Well, I think it will depend on their sentence,” the guard said, glancing back at where Aang, Katara, and Sokka were being led to the palace, “Were you traveling with them?”</p><p>Zuko nodded without thinking. The next thing he knew, he was being arrested for traveling “under false pretenses.”</p><p>For whatever reason, property damage and false pretenses was a crime fit for an audience with the king. Back in the Fire Nation, the only crime fit for an audience with the Fire Lord was treason or military disgrace. Even then, you had to be <em>important </em>to gain an audience with the Fire Lord.</p><p>Zuko would know. It was hard to become more important than the crown prince, unless you were Azula, of course.</p><p>Then again, that cabbage merchant was screaming “off with their heads!” at the top of his lungs, so maybe the law enforcement didn’t want an uprising on their hands. Zuko thought this theory was a bit of a long shot.</p><p>The guards marched them to the palace silently, though Sokka kept shooting him murderous looks. Zuko wasn’t entirely sure how this could possibly be <em>his </em>fault. Zuko wasn't the one who suggested that they go ride down a mailing shoot. Heck, Zuko didn't even ride at all, but Sokka could do whatever helped him sleep at night.</p><p>Living on Kyoshi, Zuko had heard stories about King Bumi. After all, Oma-Shu was one of the few Earth Kingdom cities left unconquered by the Fire Nation. Stories of his earthbending prowess were spread far and wide all over the Earth Kingdom. How else could Oma-Shu have stayed unconquered for so long?</p><p>Seeing the crazy (<strike>senile</strike>) old man in front of him, Zuko had an inkling that these stories were exaggerated, or at least no longer true now that the King was so old.</p><p>Then again, Uncle Iroh wasn’t exactly young, and Zuko had a feeling that he could still hold his own in a fight. Not that Zuko had seen him recently.</p><p>“Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages.”</p><p>
  <em>Malicious destruction of cabbages, seriously?</em>
</p><p>“Off with their heads! One of each head of cabbage!”</p><p>Fortunately for Zuko’s right ear, the guard silenced the merchant quickly. “Silence! Only the king can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, sire?”</p><p>Oh, so the king passed <em>all</em> the punishments. That sounded exhausting. This city wasn’t exactly small. At least, Zuko knew that this wasn’t a disproportionate response to a minor crime, and that it was simply how all crime was dealt with here.</p><p>King Bumi hummed as he stared at each of them. Zuko forced his breathing to stay steady. He might be kneeling, but he wasn’t bowing. The king in front of him wasn’t a firebender. He had done nothing disrespectful.</p><p>“Throw them… a feast!”</p><p>
  <em>What the heck.</em>
</p><p>Zuko still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on as he was seated in a chair at a dining room table.</p><p>Dinner could not have been stranger. Just when Zuko thought it would finally be over, King Bumi threw a chicken leg at Aang. Zuko tried to catch it, but it flew past his fingers, and Aang caught it using airbending.</p><p>King Bumi was definitely off his rocker, but he wasn’t an idiot.</p><p>“There’s an airbender in our presence,” King Bumi said, “And not just any airbender.” He stood up dramatically. “The Avatar!”</p><p>They tried to leave. The guards stopped them.</p><p>“You can’t keep us here! Let us leave!” Katara shouted.</p><p>Zuko gave Katara an unimpressed look. “We’re still technically under arrest. He has every right to keep us here.”</p><p>“You’re not helping, Zuko,” Sokka hissed.</p><p>The guards escorted them to the “refurbished chamber that was once bad.” It was actually a pretty nice prison cell. The room was certainly nothign like the prisons in the Fire Nation, unless there was some really nice town Zuko knew nothing about.<br/>
Aang tried to squeeze Momo through the air vents. Obviously, it didn’t work.</p><p>Zuko always slept lightly. When he heard the crunching of earth, Zuko was already on his feet, shifting his feet into a defensive position.</p><p>One should know that fighting earthbenders with no weapons (they had confiscated his fans) was not as easy as it sounded. <em>Especially </em>when you were trying not to use firebending lest you get executed.</p><p>The guards overpowered Zuko. The fight, however, managed to wake up Aang. Small victories, Zuko supposed.</p><p>“What are you doing?!” Aang shouted, leaping to his feet. He pushed the guards away with his airbending.</p><p>More guards came and pulled Zuko out of the room. They shut the earth door behind them. Aang was left alone again. Zuko was stuck being escorted to who-knows-where.</p><p>Don’t panic. He had done nothing to warrant execution. Right? All bets were off with this king.</p><p>They brought Zuko back to the audience chamber. This time Zuko was alone with King Bumi; no guards were in the room with them.</p><p>Wait a minute… King <em>Bumi? </em>Aang’s friend <em>Bumi?</em></p><p>“You’re Aang’s old friend!” Zuko exclaimed.</p><p>“Ding, ding, ding!” King Bumi cackled, “Now it’s my turn.” He lifted his hand to his chin like he was thinking really hard. Then, he pointed at Zuko. “You’re Prince Zuko!”</p><p>Zuko’s heart skipped a beat. This was it. This was the end. There was no getting out of this one.</p><p>That would not stop Zuko from trying.</p><p>“No, I’m not,” he said quickly. <em>Too</em> quickly.</p><p>How could he know? There was no evidence. Zuko’s eyes were the same color, but that was it. The makeup was covering the rest of his face. There should be no sign.</p><p>Wait, Sokka had called him by name earlier. <em>Sokka, I am going to kill you.</em></p><p>“Let’s make a deal,” King Bumi said, “I won’t tell your friends who you are, as long as you don’t tell your friends who <em>I </em>am.”</p><p>Seemed fair enough. It was better than the alternative: Zuko’s tenuous relationship to be immediately severed the minute they found out who he was.</p><p>“Deal,” Zuko agreed.</p><p>The guards led Zuko to a new (but equally nice) prison cell where Katara and Sokka were now pacing anxiously. When Zuko walked inside, Katara hugged him.</p><p>“Zuko! It’s so good to see you’re alright.”</p><p>Zuko awkwardly hugged Katara back. “Um… thanks.”</p><p>Sokka gave Zuko a murderous look. Zuko gave a confused one in return as Katara finally let go of him.</p><p>“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.</p><p>Sokka looked away quickly. “It’s nothing.”</p><p>Before too long, the guards came back and escorted them back to Aang and the king. When the guards shoved jennamite rings on their fingers, Sokka and Katara struggled. Zuko did not.</p><p>It was unlikely that King Bumi was just going to let the Avatar’s friends die, especially considering that the Avatar was his friend.</p><p>Aang did the first two tasks fairly successfully. The third task, however…</p><p>It took everything Zuko had not to scream in exasperation when Aang pointed the <em>Bumi </em>of all people to fight.</p><p>King Bumi voiced exactly what Zuko had been thinking. “Wrong choice.”</p><p>And that was when Zuko learned that the stories of King Bumi’s earthbending prowess had not been exaggerated. At all. This man was insane. This man might give Avatar Kyoshi a run for her money.</p><p>Who was Zuko kidding? <em>Nobody</em> could give Avatar Kyoshi a run for her money.</p><p>Aang won, thank Agni. In other news, King Bumi now wanted Aang to guess his name.</p><p>Zuko suddenly understood why Azula had always answered Zuko’s questions for him when he took too long to remember. Knowing something only to watch other people struggle was infuriating.</p><p>“Rocky. You know, because of all the rocks,” Sokka had suggested.</p><p>Zuko’s frustration must’ve shown on his face, because Sokka scowled defensively. “Hey, at least I’m trying to help, what are you doing?”</p><p>“I can’t help, idiot,” Zuko snapped, “I already know his name. Perks of living in the Earth Kingdom for three years.”</p><p>Katara, Sokka, and Aang continued thinking out loud.</p><p>“Why can’t you tell us?” Sokka moaned.</p><p>“That would be cheating,” Zuko said. Technically true, but not actually the reason he was refusing to say anything.</p><p>The creeping crystal was about to cover Zuko’s face when Aang <em>finally </em>figured out the answer.</p><p>“So this crazy king is your old friend Bumi?” Katara asked when they were finally free from the rock candy.</p><p>“Who are you calling old?” King Bumi said severely. Then he shrugged. “Okay, I’m old.”</p><p>“Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?” Sokka asked, “And Zuko, why did you tell Aang earlier? Before the cheating part, I mean.”</p><p>Zuko shrugged. “I wasn’t sure until it was too late.”</p><p>Sokka gave Zuko a suspicious look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes. Couldn’t Sokka ever give it a rest? “It <em>means </em>that people can have the same name without being the same person. How was I supposed to know that King Bumi was the same Bumi that Aang knew a hundred years ago?”</p><p>“As for me,” Bumi interjected, “It’s pretty fun messing with people.” He snorted, and Zuko forced himself not to glare at the crazy king. “But I do have a reason.” <em>Thank Agni.</em></p><p>Bumi turned to Aang. “Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years that you’ve been gone. It’s the duty of the Avatar to restore balance ot the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord.”</p><p>Bumi glanced at Zuko at the mention of the Fire Lord, and Zuko forced his face to stay impassive. He didn’t care if Aang ended up killing his father. It was less than he deserved.</p><p>“—And when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius. And it looks like you’re in good hands. You’ll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation.”</p><p>Zuko chest squeezed a little at the last part. Was Aang really in good hands? Zuko was a mediocre fire bender; he could not teach Aang remotely as well as Uncle Iroh could.</p><p>Not to mention that Zuko was the <em>Fire Nation Prince. </em>He was the prince who abandoned his people and everyone else. He was the prince who hid away on an island while millions died in a hundred-year war.</p><p>Suki thought he was worthy of the job, but Zuko wasn’t so sure. Still, Suki had proven time and time again that her judgement was sound, so he followed along with her scheme. Now, he was here, being indirectly told by a mad king that he was worthy of being a friend to the Avatar.</p><p>Zuko wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel comforted by that, so he stored the information away for later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry guys, no backstory today! :(</p><p>Backstory will continue in the next chapter, but since this chapter was technically an extension of the last one, what can be done? </p><p>On that note, I hope you enjoyed! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Imprisoned Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“How old are you anyway?” Suki asked one day.</p><p>Zuko scowled for no particular reason. “Thirteen,” he said.</p><p>He tried not to think about Azula only eleven and actually doing something with her life. Unlike Zuko, who was sulking in bed like an immature child.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Kyoshi Island, the days continued to pass slowly. Zuko’s hair was continuing to grow back evenly, but he missed his phoenix tail. The healers had to shave his head when treating the burns, though, so what’s done is done.</p><p>Suki began visiting, always wearing that brightly colored uniform. At first, she would just talk as he lay still silently. Zuko wondered why she insisted on sitting next to him. Part of him wondered if her mom put her up to it.</p><p>“How old are you anyway?” Suki asked one day.</p><p>Zuko scowled for no particular reason. “Thirteen,” he said.</p><p>He tried not to think about Azula only eleven and actually <em>doing </em>something with her life. Unlike Zuko, who was sulking in bed like an immature child.</p><p>Sadly, such thoughts did not spur him to actually leave the bed.</p><p>“Oh, me too!” Suki said brightly, “When were you born?”</p><p>Zuko’s scowl deepened. “Winter.”</p><p>Azula was born in the summer at noon. A sure sign of a prodigious firebender. Zuko was born in winter at night.</p><p>“Oh, I was born in the fall,” Suki said, “So I guess I’m a little older.”</p><p>Great. Even Suki was doing something with her life, being a Kyoshi warrior, while Zuko was lying on his butt. He couldn’t exactly use the ‘she’s older than me’ excuse, seeing that the difference was only in a couple of months.</p><p>A thought suddenly occurred to Zuko.</p><p>“Aren’t you a little young to be a Kyoshi warrior?”</p><p>Suki scowled. “Excuse you, I am more than capable of fighting.”</p><p>Zuko didn’t doubt that, so he shook his head quickly. “No, I mean, aren’t you a little too young for the... <em>seducing </em>part?”</p><p>Suki’s eyes flashed more dangerously than Azula’s fire, and Zuko froze. “<em>That’s</em> what you think of us?”</p><p>He made a mistake. Take it back. Try to take it back. “Well, no! I mean, all of the texts I read said that, and they were pretty reliable, but of course, it’s your country, and you would know it better, and –”</p><p>Suki got to her feet and stormed out of the room. Even though he had been wishing she would leave for weeks, Zuko felt a strange empty feeling in his stomach now that she was gone.</p><p>Had the texts lied? Zuko had made sure to get the texts from the most reliable Fire Nation scholars, there was no reason for them not to be anything but true.</p><p>Suki came storming back in, with Sayua in tow. Zuko flinched and waited for his punishment.</p><p>“Come on,” Sayua said gently, “Let me show you something.”</p><p>Sayua gently led a very confused Zuko outside. It had been weeks since Zuko had stood, much less walked, so he was basically leaning against her. Zuko refused to admit how warm it felt.</p><p>Suki took the lead as they walked to a tall, wooden statue of Avatar Kyoshi. It looked old, and definitely degraded. The paint was faded and chipped, and the edges of the carving was less defined than it could be.</p><p>“This is Avatar Kyoshi,” Sayua said, “What do you know about her?”</p><p>Zuko tried to recall what he had been taught in his history class. It probably wasn’t right, but failing was better than not trying at all. Maybe he would get half of it right.</p><p>“She… was violent. And dangerous. She crushed anyone who opposed her.”</p><p>Suki was looking murderous. It was strange to see a girl her age so open with her emotions. Azula’s anger was always hidden behind a terrifying smile.</p><p>“Not quite correct,” Sayua said, “To us, she was a strong woman, and fiercely protective of her people. Everything she did, she did with honor, and she spread the tradition of the warrior.”</p><p>Zuko frowned. That was so… different, compared to what he had been taught in the Fire Nation. Which side was right? </p><p>“But back to your original definition,” Sayua said, “If you truly believe our patron to be violent and dangerous, why would you think that her descendants would be seductresses?”</p><p>Zuko had never thought about it that way before. He had just accepted that the historians in the Fire Nation knew best.</p><p>“Well… there’s the makeup,” Zuko muttered, trying to save face.</p><p>“The makeup is designed to intimidate our opponents and represents our bold fearlessness,” Suki snapped angrily, “It’s not there to encourage men to… to…”</p><p>Oh. <em>Crap. </em>Zuko had screwed up now, hadn’t he? He just insulted an entire culture. Not only that, he insulted the culture that he was relying on to stay alive. He might as well have signed his death warrant now.</p><p>Zuko quickly let go of Sayua and collapsed to his knees, attempting to do a proper bow. He tried to focus on the looseness on the dirt underneath him. This wasn’t the arena.</p><p>“I humbly ask for your forgiveness,” Zuko said, not looking up at the girl standing in front of him. “Punish me as you see fit, but I meant—” Zuko choked on the words.</p><p>
  <em>I meant no disrespect. I am your loyal son.</em>
</p><p>Zuko couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. Strong hands grabbed him by the shoulders, and Zuko flinched back. No white-hot pain came, however. Instead, he heard a soft voice.</p><p>“That won’t be necessary,” said the voice, “Come on, we should go back inside.”</p><p>Zuko latched onto the voice, and allowed himself to be slowly hauled to his feet. “Mom?” he asked. His breathing slowed.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Zuko, but I am not your mother.” the woman answered, and Zuko’s vision cleared up. It was Sayua. Of course, it wasn’t his mom; Zuko hadn’t seen her in years.</p><p>“Right,” Zuko muttered. He flushed. Did he seriously have a breakdown right in front of Sayua and Suki? They were never going to respect him now.</p><p>Zuko went to sleep that night feeling absolutely miserable. The next morning, however, Suki came in again. That alone was strange. Zuko thought that she would never want to see his face again.</p><p>
  <em>His wretched face, forever bearing the reminder of his disgrace.</em>
</p><p>Suki was holding some scrolls in her arms, and she held them out to Zuko.</p><p>“Here,” she said, sounding a little less emotive than usual, “My mom says your education was a little… <em>biased</em>.” She said <em>biased </em>with a little bit of disdain in the same way Azula said <em>honored Uncle</em>, as if she wanted to say something far fouler.</p><p>Suki took a deep breath. “So, I got you some more <em>accurate </em>texts. We don’t have a lot here, but I got you everything I could find.”</p><p>Zuko took the texts from Suki’s arms with the best bow he could manage from his sitting position.</p><p>“Thank you,” he said quietly.</p><p>Suki huffed. “Your welcome. Enjoy reading them, I guess.” She rose to her feet and swiftly exited the room. Zuko had a feeling she was still mad from yesterday. He couldn’t really blame her.</p><p>It couldn’t happen again. Zuko unrolled one of the scrolls with the satisfying crinkle of papyrus and started reading.</p>
<hr/><p>Katara looked down at Sokka’s nuts and/or rocks skeptically before glancing back up at Sokka. “Seriously, what else you got?”</p><p>Zuko glanced around, because of course he did. “I’m sure there are some wild berries around here somewhere.”</p><p>Excuse you! Sokka had worked very hard on collecting those nuts!</p><p>Sokka scooped the nuts up back into his bag and stormed in a random direction. “Fine! I’ll find some stupid berries if you want them so much!”</p><p>Suddenly, the earth shook. “What was that?”</p><p>The earth shook again, and Aang leaped to his feet in excitement. “It’s coming from over there!” He pointed in the opposite direction.</p><p>Aang and Katara start running in that direction. Zuko and Sokka do not.</p><p>“Are you insane!” Zuko called out just as Sokka said, “Shouldn’t we be running <em>away </em>from the huge booms?”</p><p>Sokka glowered at Zuko, despite the fact that they were agreeing on something for once. Zuko gave Sokka a quizzical look.</p><p>“Are they always like this?” Zuko asked. He massaged his temple. “What am I even saying? Of course, they are.”</p><p>“Hey, that’s my sister you’re talking about!” Sokka said defensively. The earth shook again, and he was suddenly reminded of the fact that Katara and Aang had just run in <em>that </em>direction. “But yeah, pretty much. Come on!”</p><p>They followed Katara and Aang, but Sokka only saw a kid running off and creating an avalanche to block his path. It must be an earthbender then. Better than the Fire Nation, that’s for sure.</p><p>“Nice to meet you!” Aang yelled after the kid.</p><p>Aang and Katara make the astute assumption that there’s a town nearby, officially casting Sokka’s dinner aside. Sokka hated the nuts too, but still.</p><p>The town was nice enough, but then Katara saw that kid.</p><p>“He probably had a reason for running,” Zuko told Katara, “We should just leave him be.”</p><p>Sokka snorted. Katara was a master at refusing to leave things be.</p><p>Sure enough, Katara followed the kid anyway. The kid blatantly denied any earthbending.</p><p>“They're crazy, Mom!” he protested to his angry mother, “I mean, look at their clothes!”</p><p>Sokka immediately looked over to Zuko, who looked entirely unconcerned by the statement. As a matter of fact, Zuko probably had no reason to be concerned because the mom looked relieved when she saw him.</p><p>“Well, perhaps not all is lost if a Kyoshi Warrior is here,” she said. She gave Haru a fierce look. “You shouldn’t call honored warriors crazy. And regardless, you <em>know </em>how dangerous it is to do <em>that </em>out in the open.”</p><p>What, was earthbending banned or something?</p><p>Sokka’s question was promptly answered when a Fire Nation tax collector began basically robbing Haru’s mother blind.</p><p>Sokka could have sworn that Zuko wanted to burn the tax collector alive when he said, “Fire is sometimes so hard to control.”</p><p>Sokka had a <em>much </em>better handle on masking his emotions.</p><p>“How long has the Fire Nation been here?” Sokka asked when the guy finally left.</p><p>“Five years,” Haru’s mother sighed, “Fire Lord Ozai uses our town’s coal mines to power our ships.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Zuko said quietly, looking at the ground.</p><p>He should be sorry. That was <em>his </em>Fire Lord ruining lives.</p><p>“It doesn’t have to stay that way, though!” Haru said, “With my earth bending and a Kyoshi warrior on our side, we could take the town back!”</p><p>“Don’t speak that way!” Haru’s mother exclaimed, “Earthbending is forbidden! And two people are not going to make a difference against the Fire Nation.”</p><p>“But I’m a waterbender, and Aang’s the Avatar!” Katara exclaimed. Sokka face-palmed.</p><p>“Katara, do you want to shout it to the streets?” he hissed.</p><p>Katara ignored him. “Maybe we could win! I mean, what could the Fire Nation do to you that it hasn’t done already?”</p><p>One look at Haru’s mother’s face showed that Katara had said the wrong thing. “They could take Haru away! Like they took his father.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to riyel_archangel for showing me <a href="https://avatarsymbolism.tumblr.com/post/168445064857/cultural-appropriation-and-cultural-sharing-in">this post</a>, which was a huge inspiration for the beginning of this chapter!</p><p>I hope you enjoyed! Thank you everyone for your support so far! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Imprisoned Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I guess you’re right.” Zuko stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothing. Then, to Sokka’s surprise, Zuko bowed. “Thanks, Sokka.”</p><p>“No problem,” Sokka said, unsure if he should join the bowing thing. That’s when he suddenly realized. He just comforted Zuko. Zuko! The very person he despised!</p><p>Oh well. But, just in case… “Promise to never speak of this again.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After they got settled in the barn, Haru and Katara disappeared pretty quickly. Sokka hoped that they wouldn’t manage to get into trouble. Knowing his little sister, he was hoping for a miracle.</p><p>Aang was happily resting against Appa, but Zuko had walked out of the barn, sat down, and stared into the forest. Something about the way Zuko was sitting didn’t sit right with Sokka, call it instincts.</p><p>Against his better judgement, Sokka walked over to where Zuko was sitting and sat down next to him.</p><p>“What’s eating ya? Because if it’s nothing important, you should probably get ready to sleep. We’re leaving at dawn.”</p><p>Zuko only grunted and said, “Smart move.”</p><p>Somehow, that was even more infuriating than an insult would have been. If there was one thing worse than a rival, it was a <em>nice </em>rival.</p><p>Sokka let out a loud groan. “Seriously, what’s eating you? All of this moping is making me depressed, and it’s all your fault.”</p><p>Zuko snorted. Sokka waited impatiently for him to say anything. Finally, Zuko said, “I hate this.”</p><p>Sokka frowned. “Hate what?”</p><p>Zuko gestured toward the forest, which Sokka found very unenlightening. “I don’t know, <em>this! </em>All of these people, all of them are hurt because of my Fire Lord.”</p><p>“Yeah, it is pretty bad,” Sokka agreed. He frowned. "You still consider him <em>your </em>Fire Lord? I thought you defected."</p><p>"Yeah, but he used to be my Fire Lord. And the Fire Nation is still my nation." Zuko buried his face in his knees. “And the worst part is,” Zuko said, his voice now muffled, “I haven’t done anything about it. I’ve just been sitting safely on Kyoshi Island, letting the entire world suffer.”</p><p>The sun was slowly setting, and the darkening sky made Sokka feel even more depressed than before. The cold was also not helping with the mood. </p><p>“I know how you feel,” Sokka eventually said, causing Zuko to look up at him in surprise, “When Dad left, I felt so <em>useless. </em>Sure, I was protecting the tribe, but what was that compared to everyone else fighting in a war?”</p><p>He still remembered that day, watching as his dad left him behind to fight in a war. Sokka knew his father had done what was necessary, but there was still a hollow feeling in his chest whenever he thought about it.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” Sokka continued, getting to his feet, “We’re here now, and what can help the world more than training the Avatar?”</p><p>“I guess you’re right.” Zuko stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothing. Then, to Sokka’s surprise, Zuko bowed. “Thanks, Sokka.”</p><p>“No problem,” Sokka said, unsure if he should join the bowing thing. That’s when he suddenly realized. He just comforted Zuko. Zuko! The very person he despised!</p><p>Nobody could ever know, or Sokka's reputation would be ruined. Fortunately, Sokka didn't think that Zuko was one to spill private conversations to others. But, just in case… “Promise to never speak of this again.”</p><p>Zuko gave Sokka a quizzical look, but eventually shrugged and nodded. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?!”</p><p>Zuko only laughed. Sokka didn't exactly understand what he found so funny. </p><p> </p><p>Katara was already back from her talk with Haru by the time Sokka and Zuko came in. She rushed up to him, looking ready to burst from excitement.</p><p>“Haru helped an old man from getting crushed today!” she exclaimed, “Isn’t that great?”</p><p>“He <em>what?” </em>Zuko said sharply, sounding horrified.</p><p>Sokka gave Zuko a strange look. “So, what? He helped an old man, isn’t that a good thing?”</p><p>“You don’t know what people are willing to do when they’re scared,” Zuko said grimly, “While you might think that everything has a habit of working out just fine—”</p><p>Sokka squawked. “<em>I </em>do not think that—”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just because you two—” He directed his attention toward Aang and Katara. “—think everything has a habit of working out just fine, doesn’t mean that people are all good in this world.”</p><p>He grabbed his mask out of the satchel and said, “You guys get sleep. I’ll make sure nothing happens.”</p><p>“What are you going to do against the entire Fire Nation?” Sokka asked indignantly.</p><p>“I guess you’ll have to wait and see!” Zuko called out behind him.</p><p>Sokka sputtered as Zuko went out of sight. Then, he spun toward Katara. “I can’t believe this guy! Who does he think he is?”</p><p>Katara, on the other hand, looked worried. “Is Haru really in danger now?”</p><p>Sokka swatted his hand at an invisible fly, unconcerned. “Don’t listen to Zuko, he’s as much of a pessimist as you are an optimist. I’m the only down-to-earth person here.”</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, both Haru and Zuko were missing.</p><p>“I knew something like this would happen,” Sokka lamented.</p><p>So, Katara came up with the brilliant idea to pretend to be an earth bender and get arrested so that she could save both Zuko and Haru. Which was an incredibly crazy plan, but it actually worked.</p><p>Sokka repressed the instinctual stab of panic as he saw his sister get taken away by Fire Nation guards.</p><p>Of course, not a moment after Sokka and Aang start clambering onto Appa to follow Katara do Zuko and Haru suddenly show up. Zuko was wearing an all-black outfit, but he was holding his mask in his hands. Sokka noted with infuriation that the makeup was still perfectly covering his face.</p><p>“Where have you two been?” Sokka all but shouted.</p><p>“What do you mean where have I been?” Zuko demanded, “I literally just saved Haru from prison.”</p><p>“Yeah, well thanks to you being exactly two minutes too late, Katara’s been imprisoned to save both of your butts!”</p><p>Zuko looked as though his life flashed before his eyes before his face shifted into an expression of <em>I’m too young for this crap.</em></p><p>“You’re kidding.”</p><p>“Does it look like I’m kidding?!” Sokka shrieked, “Now get onto Appa so we can follow her!”</p><p>Haru was left with strict instructions to get out of the town as soon as possible. Zuko quickly slipped into his Kyoshi outfit on Appa. </p><p>Of course, when Sokka, Aang, and Zuko arrived back at the prison barge, Katara insisted that she had to stay in order to help all of the other prisoners escape.</p><p>This time, it was Sokka’s turn to say, “You’re kidding.”</p><p>Katara was not kidding, and the four of them found themselves hiding from guards as they snuck around the prison barge.</p><p>They began tossing around ideas for escape. Zuko offered to just kill the warden. Sokka was pretty sure he was joking.</p><p>“I just want the prisoners to fight back!” Katara lamented.</p><p>That’s when Aang had the genius to notice the smoke stacks. And so, they formed a plan that relied on getting a whole ton of coal and a whole bunch of earthbenders in the same place. Sokka hoped it would work.</p><p>At first, everything went fine.</p><p>“Now’s your chance earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!”</p><p>The silence was deafening. It was broken suddenly by a sickening laugh.</p><p>Sokka looked at the Warden, who was smiling. Sokka wanted to wipe that smirk straight off of his face. “Foolish girl. You thought a few inspirational words would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago.”</p><p>Sokka threw a panicked glance back over to Katara. Her face was also growing dim. Dangit, no, Katara couldn’t just—</p><p>
  <em>SMACK.</em>
</p><p>This time, both Sokka and Katara whipped their heads in the direction of the noise in shock. It was Zuko, being held back by two Fire Nation guards as he struggled toward the warden.</p><p>Sokka wasn’t fooled. As much as he hated to admit it, Zuko was way more skilled than he looked. The only reason these two guards weren’t unconscious on the ground was because Zuko wanted the opportunity to speak.</p><p>“I <em>hate </em>people like you,” Zuko snarled, baring his teeth. Sokka thought he almost looked like an angry polar-bear dog. “Men like you who think that they can just use other people as <em>tools </em>in their little <em>games, </em>breaking them bit by bit until they’re a perfectly molded puppet.</p><p>“But guess what? People aren’t meant to be tools, and we fight back!”</p><p>And as Zuko twisted himself out of the guards’ grips and shoved them to the ground, an old man who Sokka was pretty sure was Haru’s father shot coal directly at the warden.</p><p>And that was how they managed to free an entire barge of prisoners, skipping a few steps of course. Let it be known that Sokka played a <em>very </em>important role in the actual fighting.</p><p>Before they hopped on Appa, Zuko picked something up off of the ground. Upon closer inspection, Sokka found it to be Katara’s necklace.</p><p>“You dropped this,” Zuko said.</p><p>“My mother’s necklace!” Katara took it from Zuko gratefully and smiled. “Thank you, Zuko.”</p><p>Sokka peered suspiciously at Zuko, daring him to make any moves toward his sister. Zuko did nothing.</p><p>Haru’s father, Tyro, smiled gratefully at Katara. “Thank you, for saving us.”</p><p>“What about Zuko?” she asked. She looked at Zuko, who was taking off his mask and wiping the sweat off of his makeup.</p><p>Zuko shook his head. “I might’ve lashed out at the warden, but you were the one who choose to stay and save them in the first place. It was all you.”</p><p>Tyro nodded. “Thank you for helping me find my courage, all of you.”</p><p>Sokka found himself approving whole-heartedly when Tyro proclaimed he was going to take back their villages from the Fire Nation.</p><p> </p><p>Commander Zhao stood on the prison rig, the most recent place his search for the Avatar had taken him. </p><p>“Describe the perpetrators,” Zhao commanded the one surviving soldier with him.</p><p>“Two Water Tribe children,” the soldier said shakily, “One a boy, one a girl. An airbender was there. I think he was the Avatar!”</p><p>Old news, old news. “Anything else?” Zhao asked sharply.</p><p>“Yes,” the soldier nodded, “A Kyoshi Warrior was there, but her form was familiar, and she redirected our fire straight back toward us! The others think I'm crazy for it, but I think she must’ve been a firebender!”</p><p>Now, this was news. Zhao had heard rumors of a Kyoshi Warrior joining the Avatar’s company, which was unsurprising, seeing as that was the last place Zhao had actually encountered the Avatar. But a firebender?</p><p>A Kyoshi warrior that was also a firebender. Now that wasn't something you heard every day. Could it be a mixed birth, or was there something deeper than that? </p><p>Zhao had questions, and he was going to get his answers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that's the end of this episode. Next up: The Spirit World. </p><p>I hope you enjoyed! Please be nice in the comments.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Spirit World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Zuko explained why the actually do not have all the time in the world.</p><p>“Sozin’s comet, remember?”</p><p>“Sozin’s what now?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko gave them all a surprised look before it turned into one of complete exasperation. “You’re telling me that you’re off to fight the Fire Nation, and you don’t even know what Sozin’s comet is?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You know, for a firebender, you sure don’t bend a lot,” Suki said abruptly one day.</p><p>She and Zuko were sitting in Zuko’s solitary room. Zuko had been reading a scroll on known spirits in the Earth Kingdom. Despite Suki’s initial anger and frustration with Zuko’s ignorance, she kept visiting him. Zuko didn’t understand it at all.</p><p>His inner fire flared at the mention of bending, and Zuko pushed it back forcefully. It returned to its dim flicker.</p><p>“I don’t want to bend,” Zuko said, not looking up from his scroll.</p><p>“Why not?” Suki asked, surprise evident in her voice, “I thought all benders <em>had </em>to bend. Isn’t it unhealthy to repress that?”</p><p>Zuko bit the inside of his cheek. It was true that refusing to bend was a sure recipe for disaster, especially for fire benders. Either the fire would violently force its way out, or the bending would go away completely.</p><p>The second option was by far the worst possibility, but the idea of creating fire so near his skin was so daunting that Zuko couldn’t stand the thought of it.</p><p>“Well, it’s been four months, and nothing bad has happened to me yet,” Zuko said quietly.</p><p>That wasn’t true. A couple months ago, during a particularly bad nightmare, Zuko had nearly set his blanket on fire. Now, Zuko’s inner fire was hardly more than a weak flame, ready to be snuffed out at the slightest breeze.</p><p>
  <em>He felt so cold.</em>
</p><p>But Suki didn’t need to know any of that, not that she’d care.</p><p>“I don’t understand though,” Suki pressed, “Why wouldn’t you want to bend? If I could create fire, I’d do it all the time.”</p><p>Zuko finally looked up from his scroll, knowing full well he wasn’t going to be able to understand any more of the words with Suki pressing him like this.</p><p>“You didn’t take me for someone who enjoyed destruction,” Zuko said. He felt too tired to allow any emotion to seep into his words.</p><p>Suki blinked, looking startled at the thought.  “I don’t,” she said, “But don’t you realize how useful firebending could be? Making campfires wouldn’t be a problem, getting water to boil would be easy, and it would be a lot easier to save people who are nearly frozen to death.”</p><p>Zuko scowled at the ground. “Yeah, and it could also destroy everything it touches.”</p><p>“You could stay that about literally any weapon.”</p><p>“Fire’s different.”</p><p>Suki sighed. “Come on,” she said, “What if you just lit that candle? That’s not destructive at all.”</p><p>Zuko stared at the unused candlestick next to his futon. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem. Lighting a candle was easy, Azula could do it when she was four, maybe even three. Zuko had done it about a million times himself.</p><p>Zuko took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Okay.”</p><p>
  <em>Breathe. Feel the fire flow through you. Just a small spark.</em>
</p><p>His inner fire flared violently after being called upon after so long, and instead of a small flame hitting the wick, a large burst of fire shot from his fingertips.</p><p>Suki shrieked. Zuko flinched back, quickly closing his hand into a fist and dispelling the fire.</p><p>His inner fire raged violently as panic started to suffocate him. He could feel the heat on his face, he could feel his father’s shadow standing over him, a small caress around his eye before everything exploded into flames. Agni, he was going to die, he was going to die—</p><p>“Zuko? Can you hear me?” Suki’s voice broke through the pain, and Zuko managed to make a miniscule nod. “Good. Tell me three things you see.”</p><p>Zuko blinked, trying to focus on his surroundings. “You. Uh… candlestick.” <em>Flames. </em>No, there weren’t any flames. “Scroll.”</p><p>“Okay, two things you feel?”</p><p><em>Heat. </em>Zuko’s fingers brushed up against his new, coarse clothing. “Clothes.” He took a deep breath. “Um… the floor.”</p><p>He could see more clearly. Suki was giving him a strained smile. “Two things you hear.”</p><p>“You,” he said immediately. He focused, trying to think past the memory of his own screams. “Footsteps.”</p><p>Zuko forced himself to untense, and Suki seemed to relax a little bit at seeing <em>him </em>relax. “Alright—”</p><p>Sayua entered the room, cutting Suki off. “What’s going on in here?”</p><p>Zuko found himself tensing all over again, but Suki was the epitome of calm. “Nothing,” she said casually, “Zuko was just trying some firebending.”</p><p>Zuko’s mind started racing. Was he even allowed to firebend? Especially around a Kyoshi Warrior? Would Sayua see it as an attack? Would she demand that Zuko stop, or worse, do more?</p><p>Sayua, however, only smiled kindly and said, “Oh? Well, try not to push yourself too much, okay?”</p><p>Zuko nodded quickly, not daring to say anything. Sayua turned to Suki.</p><p>“Training is in an hour, I want to show you girls some sword katas.”</p><p>Zuko’s ears perked up. They had swords? Maybe it should’ve seemed a little obvious, but Zuko had always assumed that the Kyoshi warriors <em>only </em>used fans. Maybe he missed something in a scroll.</p><p>“Okay,” Suki said, “I’ll be there.”</p><p>Sayua nodded and left, flashing Zuko another warm smile before stepping out the door way.</p><p>There was a suspended moment of silence while Zuko and Suki waited for her to be far enough away. Zuko had an uncomfortable feeling Suki was going to ask him why his lungs stopped working right after he firebended.</p><p>Zuko would really rather not answer uncomfortable, not to mention <em>personal, </em>questions, so he decided to ask one of his own.</p><p>“You’re learning with swords?”</p><p>Suki started; she obviously hadn’t expected the conversation to begin that way. Nevertheless, she replied, “Yeah. It’s always good to know how to use more than one weapon.”</p><p>Zuko thought about this. His father and Azula would scorn the idea of using anything other than their bending; his father had only agreed for Zuko to learn the way of the sword because he was so terrible with his bending ability.  Still, Zuko wouldn’t deny that it felt good to know he could still fight with a sword in his hand, especially now that he panicked at the mere sight of fire.</p><p>
  <em>Pathetic. What use is a firebender who’s afraid of his own element?</em>
</p><p>A shiver ran down Zuko’s spine. “Can I come with you?”</p><p>Suki gave Zuko an incredulous look, and Zuko crossed his arms defensively, looking away. He immediately started backtracking.</p><p>“Or, if you think it’s such a terrible idea, I can just—”</p><p>“No, I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Suki interrupted, “I’m just surprised. I thought you wanted to stay in this room forever.”</p><p>“Yeah, well…I’m sick of it in here.” That came out harsher than he meant it to.  Zuko winced.</p><p>It wasn’t even true. Sometimes Zuko was eternally grateful for the time he had alone, only reading or sleeping. Sometimes Zuko wished he could just curl up in a ball and never wake up again.</p><p>But Zuko felt pathetic sitting alone in the room, and his sudden failure in firebending only proved that he was wasting his life in here.</p><p>Besides, Zuko found something comforting about a sword hilt in his hand, and he missed it.</p><p>Suki snorted. “Yeah, I’d be sick of it too.” She paused for a moment. What was she thinking about? She was probably going to reject Zuko’s request. “Yeah, I think you can come.”</p><p>Warmth bloomed in Zuko’s chest. “Really?”</p><p>Suki rolled her eyes. “Yes, really. Besides—” She grinned. “I’ve been waiting for an excuse to beat you.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“You need to exercise your control,” Zuko said for the umpteenth time as Aang let out a huge stream of flames with his punch.</p><p>“I’m trying!” Aang exclaimed, looking far too thrilled for someone who had unlocked the ability to burn villages to the ground, “But look, Zuko! I’m doing it!”</p><p>Zuko smiled wearily. “Great job.” He set his face back into a serious expression. “Now, you need <em>control.”</em></p><p>For the record, Sokka thought this was far too dangerous. Wouldn’t it be smarter for Aang to learn waterbending before he went into the fire stuff?</p><p>Katara had agreed at first, but then Zuko brought up a unfortunately convincing point.</p><p>“You don’t know enough waterbending to teach him much,” Zuko said, “That’s why we’re going to the North Pole. But at this rate, we won’t get to the North Pole in at least another month. Aang might as well take the time that he has to learn Firebending, it’s not like we have all the time in the world here.”</p><p>Aang frowned. “Uh… don’t we?”</p><p>While Sokka agreed that they should try to defeat the Fire Lord as soon as possible, he wasn’t quite sure that Zuko’s incredulous look was justified. He wasn’t sure, that was, until Zuko explained why the actually do <em>not </em>have all the time in the world.</p><p>“Sozin’s comet, remember?”</p><p>“Sozin’s what now?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko gave them all a surprised look before it turned into one of complete exasperation. “You’re telling me that you’re off to fight the Fire Nation, and you don’t even know what Sozin’s comet is?”</p><p>Katara frowned. “Why? What is it?”</p><p>Zuko frowned, and an uncomfortable air of solemnity lay between them. “Sozin’s comet comes once every hundred years. It, ugh how do I phrase this, it gives firebenders more power.” Zuko glanced at Aang before returning his attention to the fire. “It was, uh, it was how he wiped out the air nomads.”</p><p>There was an uncomfortable silence. Sokka decided to be the big man and break it.</p><p>“Okay, so when is the next one coming?”</p><p>Zuko gave Sokka a despairing look. “The end of summer.”</p><p>A girl in the North Pole could’ve dropped their necklace, and Sokka would’ve heard it; it was so silent.</p><p>So, needless to say, Sokka very much agreed that they needed to take the speed track on bending training. He just wasn’t sure why Aang couldn’t learn waterbending first.</p><p>Katara said he was being stubborn. Sokka said he was being smart.</p><p>Still, Sokka admitted that there were worst situations to learn firebending. At least they <em>had </em>a firebending teacher, that in itself was a miracle, not that he’d ever tell Zuko that. And right now, Aang and Zuko were training in the middle of an already burnt-down forest, so there wasn’t really anything to burn that wasn’t already.</p><p>Aang hadn’t liked the idea of training in a place already burnt to ash. Sokka, on the other hand, was very glad that they weren’t in the one place Aang could accidently start forest fires.</p><p>Then again, Sokka was pretty sure Zuko could extinguish the fire before it go too far.</p><p>“You have to keep a steady stance,” Zuko instructed, demonstrating. Zuko was wearing a green tunic and some baggy pants he had found at a nearby market. When Sokka asked, Zuko explained it was so that he could actually show Aang what his legs were supposed to be doing.</p><p>Aang corrected his stance.</p><p>“Good,” Zuko said, “Now, when you create fire, make sure you only make the amount that <em>you </em>want to make. Don’t let it get away from you, but don’t be too scared to make anything more than a spark. Breathe in, and then—” Zuko executed a punch, and a small jet of fire came from his fist before disappearing. “—control.”</p><p>Aang nodded. “Okay. Deep breath.” Aang took in an exaggerated breath, and then copied what Zuko did almost perfectly. Beaming, Aang looked up at Zuko. “How about that one?”</p><p>Zuko smiled much more genuinely this time. “Great work.”</p><p>Aang might as well have been glowing, he was smiling that hard.</p><p>Sokka glanced at the sun. It seemed to be approaching evening. “Hey guys, we should probably—”</p><p>A man came running toward them, causing Katara to gasp and very rudely interrupt Sokka’s sentence.</p><p>“Hey, who are you?” Sokka asked.</p><p>The man immediately starts crying out about how his village is in desperate need, and Sokka finds himself heading toward yet another village. On the bright side, it will probably have some good food.</p><p>Okay, so apparently a spirit named Hei Bai was kidnapping villagers every three nights. <em>Also, </em>apparently since Aang is the Avatar, he’s the bridge between the normal world and the spirit world. So, of course, the logical conclusion is to send the twelve-year-old kid who has no idea what he’s doing to face a spirit monster by himself.</p><p>Understandably, Sokka was pretty upset by this.</p><p>So was Zuko.</p><p>“Are we seriously going to let him do this?” Zuko asked furiously, gesturing out to Aang, who was walking down the lonely street of the village.</p><p>“He is the only one who can save us,” the man from before, Kay-Fon, said.</p><p>“This isn’t right,” Sokka said, “We shouldn’t sit here like cowards while Aang waits for some monster to eat him up.”</p><p>“Sokka, we can’t just let this town suffer,” Katara said, “And Aang knows what he’s doing.”</p><p>Both Sokka and Zuko let out a derisive snort at that one.</p><p>Zuko jumped out the window as soon as the monster started destroying buildings. Sokka was quick to follow.</p><p>While Sokka threw his boomerang at the spirit, Zuko grabbed Aang and started pulling him away.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Sokka called to Zuko, “Shouldn’t we be fighting this thing?”</p><p>“Let go of me!” Aang shouted at the same time. He managed to free himself from Zuko’s probably loose grasp. “I need to get him to stop!”</p><p>“Fight a spirit, are you insane?!” Zuko shouted at Sokka as he stared chasing Aang again. “Aang, there’s no point! You need to get—”</p><p>Zuko let out a startled shout as the spirit picked him up. Sokka growled and dashed toward Hei Bai, who reached out and grabbed him too.</p><p>It was strange, being held by a spirit. It was almost like being lifted by air, but there was a strange tingling feeling to it. It was almost like Sokka was touching magic.</p><p>Sokka hated it.</p><p>Zuko seemed to hate it equally, considering that he was thrashing and very obviously trying to firebend at Hei Bai, causing Sokka to be hit by fresh waves of heat on this cold night.</p><p>It was no use, though. Hei Bai only dragged them to who knows where at top speed.</p><p>And suddenly, Sokka was sitting in a bamboo forest. Zuko was sitting right next to him, breathing heavily.</p><p>“Are you good there?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko pulled himself to his feet and brushed off his uniform. “I’m fine,” he said tersely.</p><p>“Yeah… Katara only usually says that when she’s <em>not </em>fine,” Sokka said.</p><p>Zuko gave Sokka a <em>look. </em>“Well, I <em>am.” </em>He looked around. “Where are we?”</p><p>Sokka shrugged, standing up. It was warm, but there was a pleasant breeze. The sun was out, which was strange because Sokka <em>knew </em>it was night just minutes ago.</p><p>Zuko took a deep breath that sounded like an exasperated sigh when he jerked. He looked surprised.</p><p>“What is it?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko ignored him, the jerk, and instead stared at his open palm. Then he punched the air.</p><p>Sokka tried, and failed, to not get to annoyed with Zuko ignoring him. He crossed his arms. “Uh… care to tell me what you’re doing?”</p><p>“My bending,” Zuko said, sounding slightly panicked, “It’s not working.”</p><p>Well crap. That actually sounded pretty bad. “You think the spirit took away your bending?”</p><p>Zuko shook his head. “No, I can still feel my inner fire, but it’s like someone’s put a block on my chi paths. No fire is coming.”</p><p>Yeah, Sokka only understood like half of that, but he go the gist. Bending was gone, it just didn’t work. Great. Excellent. Their resident firebender could no longer firebend.</p><p>And on top of that, Sokka had no idea where they were, and he <em>hated </em>it.</p><p>“This is all your fault.” Sokka angrily pointed accusingly at Zuko. “If you hadn’t insisted on not fighting, we might not be here right now.”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes. “Seriously? You really think that fighting a <em>spirit, </em>a creature that is literally not of our world, would be killed by our weapons? You would only manage to rile it up!”</p><p>“Well, you managed to do that without my help!” Sokka shot back, “Maybe it didn’t like your stupid face!”</p><p>Instead responding to Sokka’s childish insult with another retort, Zuko very visibly flinched. Surprised, Sokka stood stock still as Zuko stumbled back a couple of steps, ripped off one of his gloves, and lifted his gloveless hand to his eye, the one that was narrower than the other.</p><p>Zuko felt his makeup and let out a very visible sigh of relief.</p><p>“Uh… Zuko?” Sokka asked, suddenly feeling guilty, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”</p><p>“It’s fine,” Zuko said tersely. He shoved his glove back on and turned around. “Let’s just… let’s just see if we can figure out where we are.”</p><p>They found a couple of strangers who were apparently kidnapped from that village that was getting attacked by Hei Bai. They had equally no idea where they were, although a couple theorized that they were in the spirit world.</p><p>Zuko agreed with this theory. Sokka didn’t.</p><p>And <em>no, </em>it was not because he didn’t want to agree with Zuko.</p><p> </p><p>They were freed from the mysterious forest after what felt like an eternity, and Aang excitedly told them what happened.</p><p>“I went into the spirit world and talked to Avatar Roku’s dragon!” he said, “He didn’t do much, but he showed me a vision of Sozin’s comet.” He frowned. “It’s a lot bigger than I imagined.”</p><p>Zuko frowned and crossed his arms. He looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.</p><p>Sokka decided to move the subject away from something so depressing. “So, how did you free us?”</p><p>Aang grinned. “I showed the spirit and acorn, and he calmed down.”</p><p>Sokka had no idea what <em>that </em>was supposed to mean, but he decided it didn’t actually matter.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm back! Hope you guys had a happy holidays! My sister got me Rise of Kyoshi for Christmas, and I was pretty thrilled not gonna lie. </p><p>You don't exactly need Avatar Roku to tell you about Sozin's comet when you have an ex-fire nation prince who lived with a father that was practically counting down the years til it arrives. </p><p>The water bending scroll is the next episode, and let me tell you I am EXCITED for it.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have a <a href="https://mollypollykinz.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> now! Check it out if you want.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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